Monday, March 2, 2015

Thank you for signal boosting my February 2015 #AARI15 picks! I hope that many of you were able to participate in NCTE's 25th anniversary Read-Ins, and spent the month savoring the wonderful world of African American children's and young adult literature for Black History Month.

To launch my March 2015 #StoryGirls hashtag, this month's featured blog post is an interview with award-winning author Sharon G. Flake. Her 2014 middle grades novel, Unstoppable Octobia May, was my first daily Twitter recommendation for March 1, and leads a month of #StoryGirls from all backgrounds and walks of life. I first met
Sharon at NCTE 2004, which was the very first national educational
conference I attended. It has been more than a decade since then, but I
have been consistently impressed by Sharon's talent for capturing authentic voices of
young people, as well as her sincerity and commitment to authentically
representing their lives.Sharon G. Flake exploded onto the literary scene with her novel The Skin I'm In in 1998, and was named a Publishers Weekly
Flying Start. Since then she has become a multiple Coretta Scott King
Author Honor Award winner and has been hailed as the voice of
middle-grade youth as well as a Rising Star by The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.
Many of Sharon’s novels have received ALA Notable and Best Books for
Young Adults citations from the American Library Association. Her
writing has been applauded for its on-point narrative that explores
issues affecting teens from all walks of life. She currently lives in Pittsburgh. Please visit Sharon’s website: www.sharongflake.com.

Sharon is a phenomenal woman, and her
accomplishments tell the tale. From Maleeka in The Skin I'm In, to all the many different portraits of girls' lives in the anthology Who Am I Without Him?, and on to Autumn in Pinned and Octobia May in The Unstoppable Octobia May, Sharon has a long bibliography of girls who rock. Late last month, she was gracious enough to respond to a few interview questions.

1. I read (and loved!) Unstoppable
Octobia May last fall, and participated in the #IAmUnstoppable campaign.
What was your inspiration for this unique, “unstoppable" girl character?

I am often in awe of the tenacity,
creativity, and spirit of African-American youth, so I always want to show
their depth of character and purpose.For instance, in my novelPinned,
my protagonist Autumn Knight is a struggling reader and a gifted wrestler; the
only girl on the team.The boy she loves
is in a wheelchair, smart as a whip yet bound by secrets.

Often we place limits on girls, especially
ones like Autumn, but what if we didn’t?That very question is at the core of everything I write, even if it is
the 1950’s and things still aren’t equal for African Americans, girls or
women.Even if the protagonist is an imaginative
10-year-old girl sleuth who thinks it is her right to pursue wrongdoers and to
question authority figures (both black and white) as she fearlessly moves
through life.

Octobia May is independent, brave,
adventurous and smart.Living in the
1950’s, she is determined to be her own person, while also solving what might
be the biggest mystery in town.At the
heart of most of my novels are girls like her, who are strong down to their
very marrow, no matter how they may appear on the surface.My inspiration for all of them I suppose, wasthe women in my life.Take my mother.She was an introvert.Sitting in our kitchen snapping peas and tending
to pots, she ran the world though she let my dad think he did.My grandmother took care of a disabled
husband for about sixteen years, boiling his sheets to ward off infection,
crawling upstairs on her knees bone tired after cleaning someone else’s home
some days. She purchased her own home making money from day’s work.And filled it with antiques and beautiful
furniture. These women, along with the ones on the block where I grew up—Miss
Connie, Miss Portis, Miss Ruby, Miss Estelle and others—showed me (though I
wasn’t so aware at the time) the depth and complexity of womanhood.What it meant to be a black girl and woman
living in the inner city.In them I saw
the steady drumbeat of resolve.That it
didn’t take money to make a neighborhood safe, clean, filled with love—it took
a want to no nonsense spirit and some hard work.These women were determined to push through
whatever the day brought them, while they lived, loved, laughed and even cried,
I suppose.Because of them and the men
on my block (my father and all of their husbands) I always felt protected and
loved.

Octobia May is my most
self-assured, fun-loving, inquisitive protagonist to date.Her energy is fueled by all of those women, but it is also the result of my own
going of age.I could not have written about such a girl
when I first stepped onto the literary stage.Though aspects of her can be found in all of my characters as well as
myself—I was filled with too much insecurity, self-doubt and fear to create
such a girl until now.At 59 I worry
less about what other people think, and more about what I know for sure.I am hopeful that it won’t take the next
generation as long.

2. One aspect of the book
that I found particularly interesting was the blend of genres. I remember my
grandparents talking about the boardinghouses they lived in when they came
North in 1919 and 1947 — the house Octobia May’s aunt runs reminded me of their
stories. What went into your decision to set the story in the past?

I did not realize it growing up,
but my parents are natural born story tellers.As children, we laughed our way through their stories, learned a lot
about our family and culture, and at other times were amazed at the pain and
cruelty our people suffered in America.

Many of my parent’s stories
revolved around life in the 30’s and the 50’s. As a result, I have wanted to write about the 1950’s
for a while now. Unstoppable Octobia May
gave me that opportunity.I did a lot of
research, but I also picked my parents’ brains, and recalled the stories I
loved hearing best as a child. Do not ask me why, but one of my favorite
stories was not even a story at
all.It was simply a fact.To escape the heat, lots of people in the
50’s would sleep outside on their fire escapes. Though I could never imagine
doing so myself, the image intrigued me for decades.As a result, Octobia May and her friends find
themselves sleeping on the fire escape, talking about the moon and the stars.

Last summer as I drove my father to the bank, he
began to point to vacant buildings, recalling the stores they once housed. There was a hat store; one that made ties. Loads
of others.My 88-year-old father has an
exceptional memory, so he gave me every detail, which I relished.He also spoke of a dairy across town.When Octobia May is on the boat, she speaks
of these businesses to the reader. It helps to give them a sense of time and
place, solidifying a particular era in the
minds of readers.

Some of my grandmother’s wisdom made it into
the book, as well.‘A whistling woman
and a crowing hen, always come to a no good end,’ is just one of them. Jonah, Octobia May’s best friend, recites that
verse in the book.When his mother
speaks of reaching for higher berries and better bushes; that is my
grandmother’s wisdom too.There was a
time when we passed on saying like these.Having the characters talk about them demonstrates in some ways how history
and culture get handed down to the next generation.

I am a child of the 50’s, so I
remember a horse drawn wagon riding up our block; the
owner selling fresh vegetables.I loved
our cobblestone street.I drew on these
images, though the book isn’t set in Philly.Or maybe it is, and I am just fooling myself.

3.Sometimes, I’ve found that readers of all ages
avoid historical fiction. But kids here in Philly loved the story! What
makes Unstoppable Octobia May different?

Historical fiction can be interesting, entertaining
and relevant, all at once.When this happens, young people aren’t so
inclined to want to part with a book.That
is what I’m finding with Unstoppable Octobia
May.

I wantedto
create a character that wasn’trestricted by what history said
about certain individuals or groups, like what it meant to be a girl in the
50’s; a black man during World War ll.At the same time, I also wanted to relay certain historical facts.

From the very first sentence of the book, young
people seem to be hooked.Before the end
of the chapter, so are adults.A girl with
a lively imagination who talks about vampires, writes the president of the
United States and courageously solves mysteries, is bound to touch the hearts
of a lot of people I suppose.And so she
does. In school, young people hear about Linda Brown a lot; but not in the way Unstoppable Octobia May introduces her
to them.Looking at history from a
different perspective can give young readers a new opportunity (in class or at
home) to have fresh discussions about tough issues like segregation, and
racism; our countries expectations of girls and women, as well as the treatment
of Jews in this country.

I believe your Philly students were excited because
there is so much in the book to like.Humor, a strong girl who takes on the world, and history told through
new eyes in a different voice without skirting serious issues or forgetting
that children are the primary audience.

There is so much meat here for teachers and school
districts working with the Common Core too.And while the protagonist is a girl, boys have found it a good read as
well. That makes sense to me, because I have always believed that a good book
pulls in all sorts of readers.

4. In your campaign to promote
the book, you spoke about unstoppable girls, which I think is a brilliant theme
for Women’s History Month. As a longtime reader of your fiction, I’ve found so
many of your girl characters to be unstoppable. What messages about empowerment
do you hope your readers take away from Unstoppable Octobia May, as well
as the other amazing story girls you’ve dreamed and imagined into existence
over the years?

I had fun with the Unstoppable campaign, and thanks
for participating.I have something
coming in May built around the campaign so folks should be on the lookout.If parents, teachers and schools would like
their students to participate, they should email me.

I struggled with confidence.Many girls and women still do.So as I travel the country speaking, I talk
to girls a lot about such things.My hope is that girls will know for
themselves who they are, what they are good at, and why it is okay to ask for
what they want. I hope they quit waiting to be unafraid, That they willleap even while still shaking in their boots. Raise their hand and
answer the question even when they aren’t one hundred percent certain it’s
correct.And finally my hope is that
they stop looking at the girl or guy next to them for validation and approval,
but learn to trust that inner voice inside.In other words, I hope they leap.

I was good at leaping, but inside I doubted,
questioned, and double checked myself against others who sometimes may not have
been as accomplished as I was.I wanted validation, but at the same
time there was this Octobia May inside of me.Autumn, Raspberry and Maleeka too.All of them saying, “Girl you better make that move.”As a result, I made some moves that did not
serve me well, but most times I landed solidly on my own two feet. Inside I would be shaking,
in my office in my forties crying—but I never quit jumping, leaping, flying—so
I have always spoken to boys and girls about my experiences.

Several of my characters have their insecurities
and fears.But they also believe they
have what it takes to get where they are trying to go, no matter how long it
takes.That is also why I create so many
characters with flaws—I love to show young people that no one is perfect, that
we all have our mess, we alsohave
the ability to move pass it and become who we were born to be.

5.What’s your next project? What can your fans and
loyal readers look forward to next from your pen?

I am not saying much about it just yet.But I have taken one of the short stories from Who Am I Without Him? (The Ugly One) and turned it into a novel.Think Victorian English, African-American
English and Standard English all spoken in the same novel.I had a lot of fun writing it, and love, love
the title.But that is also hush, hush
for now.

1 comment:

"At the heart of most of my novels are girls like her, who are strong down to their very marrow, no matter how they may appear on the surface." May we all be so privileged to speak of and write of the women in our lives like this!

Thanks for this interview, E.E. - I love Ms. Flake, and haven't had a moment to sit down with Miss Octobia May just yet, but she's on my pile! I also thought WHO AM I WITHOUT HIM was an amazing piece of literature, and am really excited to hear about a spin-off novel from one of the stories! Can't wait.

Theory, Social Justice & Activism Blogs

About Me

Hi! I'm Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, an assistant professor at Penn GSE who loves children's and YA literature, media, and culture. (I'm also a former classroom teacher, a current fangirl, and will always be a dreamer.)

This blog is under construction. Here are links to my other sites around the Web: